Home Sweet Maison: The French Art of Making a Home

by Danielle Postel-Vinay

French Women Don’t Get Fat meets The Little Book of Hygge in this lively, sophisticated, and practical illustrated lifestyle guide that shows how to enjoy la belle vie—to live like the French every day—transforming your house into a home defined by beauty, family, and accessible elegance.

How do the French create the elusive and alluring sanctuaries they call home? This question long intrigued Danielle Postel-Vinay. Thanks to a chance encounter with a French expat in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and years of immersive research, she embarked on a quest to discover the secrets of the French home aesthetic.

Experiencing first-hand la belle vie—the beautiful life—Postel-Vinay now shows everyone how to create their own French sanctuary, a home sweet maison, no matter where they live. Providing more than just interior decorating and design tips, Postel-Vinay teaches you how to foster the warmth, beauty, and rituals inherent in the French home and create an environment better suited to living a rich, full, connected life. At the center of the book is the idea that your house should be a reflection of you, your hobbies, your family history, your rituals, all the things that make your life unique. A happy home is a home that expresses your rituals and your taste, not one that relies on prefab décor from a mass retailer.

Home Sweet Maison takes a room-by-room approach to show how the French view: 



The Aesthetic: why the objects in your home matter, why minimalism is overrated, and why the French always choose the perfect décor for their salons

The Practical: how to use mise-en-place, or the French art of organization, in your kitchen, and how to find the right stain-removing potions to create your own French laundry

The Sensual: the way the French employ scent in their home as a personal signature

The Philosophical: the idea that every room in a French house has a specific purpose, and that the activity in one room should never bleed into the others
Home Sweet Maison encapsulates the very heart of the French way of seeing the world: set the table formally, adhere to all the conventions of ritual and tradition, then take pleasure in indulgence. It’s about using French concepts and routines to change our homes, our relationships, and our lives for the better.

Genres: Nonfiction, France, Lifestyle, Design, Travel, Interior Design, Audiobook

273 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2018

About the author

French alter ego of Danielle Trussoni.

Danielle Postel-Vinay is an American writer who has lived extensively in France. She currently lives in the Hudson Valley of New York with her Parisian husband and children.

Danielle was born in Wisconsin and made her first trip to France at the age of sixteen. She fell head over heels in love with France, but noticed that the French had very different ideas about everything from diet to manners to love. She met her first mentor in the art of French living soon after, Jacqueline Manon, an expatriate woman who had brought her French sensibility to her Midwestern home. They became close friends, and for the next decades Danielle became a passionate student of all things French. Danielle became intimately connected to the inner workings of French life when she met her husband, Hadrien, a filmmaker who grew up in Paris and Brittany. It was through the Postel-Vinay family that she was introduced to the private culture of French life, with all its beautiful rituals and unspoken expectations.

Reviews

[Anne White]

I wanted to like this book more, but when I finished it I felt like I'd spent a weekend with a stereotypical disapproving mother-in-law. It's going back to the thrift store, where someone else will surely love it.

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danielle Postel-Vinay gives her readers a refreshing take on the lifestyle genre. Home Sweet Maison is a sensory journey into what makes a French home, well....French. Setting aside French stereotypes of snobbery and romanticism, Postel-Vinay gives her reader an up close and personal look into the form, function and even history of every room in the French home. It’s a fascinating look at culture, both American and French, and the constant struggle between tradition and modern living. Postel-Vinay never forgets she is an American, from a particular time and place, the 1970’s Midwest and she neither dismisses nor puts on a pedestal one way of life. Instead, there is a love story in these pages: the love of her Parisian husband and his family and of course France. How do we prioritize what we love? And celebrate that love in how we live? Home Sweet Maison helps us answer these questions and one needn’t be a Francophile to appreciate this author’s wisdom.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been one of the most fascinating and informative books I have read this year!

I find that when I'm looking for a book about home decorating, or how to simplify your life, or how to obtain the French "je ne sais quoi," I usually stumble upon a pretty coffee table book with gorgeous photographs and detailed step-by-step instructions on how to systematically achieve that elegant, Instagram-worthy lifestyle. The organizing side of me squeals with delight, and my eyes widen as if trying to drink in all the snapshots of a sophisticated existence. However, in the end, it always feels unachievable. I put those books down, feeling like the only way to live more simply is to buy an old, crumbling chateau in France, fix it up (a la Chip and Joanna Gaines), and settle in with a glass of wine while staring at endless fields of lavender.

While that is a reverie I visit often, this little book broke the mold for me in terms of learning how to simplify life. Danielle Postel-Vinay lived in France for many years, and absorbed countless lessons from her time there (and from her French husband and in-laws). The main theme, if you will, is that homemaking is not supposed to be a staging for a photo shoot by Better Homes & Gardens. It's not even about making everything sterile and clean for the sake of impressing guests. It's more about taking the time to savor your home, and to let it express who you are to the people you allow into it.

The French are big on using a room solely for the purpose it was created for. No "open-concept" stuff. You eat in the dining room, not in the kitchen. You don't randomly show your guests around the whole house as if it was an exhibit. Certain spaces are private and don't need to be shown off. By using the room for its original purpose, you create habits that will help life to have a more peaceful rhythm. You eat dinner at the table with your family, not in the living room in front of the TV. The living room becomes the place for conversation, for entertaining.

My two favorite chapters were The Entree and La Bibliotheque.

Entree:

It's a transition space. Your guest is ushered in from the outside world into your own realm. It's a place to express yourself creatively, to put pictures, items, and/or a fragrance that will give people a little flavor of who you are.

La Bibliotheque:

Another place to express yourself. As most readers know, you can tell a lot about a person by what they read. Your personal library is not necessarily a room, but a carefully curated selection of books that you want to silently speak about who you are. It will foster conversation and adds another subtle layer of your personality to the feel of your home.

Super, super interesting book! Highly recommended!

[Lisastrawberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give 3.5 if I could. This book did a decent job of explaining the differences between how the French set up their homes and how Americans typically do. I guess I'm not as interested in the subject as I had originally thought, which is why this started dragging for me about halfway through it. I did learn a interesting term though! repas gastronomique is a large meal involving traditional French food, most often taken with family and friends. It's so important to French culture that it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage treasure. :)

[Seema Rao · Rating 2 out of 5]

TLDR: The French Way of Life is Awesome

Good:
The color is beautiful

Bad:
Writing is not compelling
Too few images to support point
Drags on

I think after all my Hygge and Lagom reading, I have hit my limit on the way that life in foreign countries can make us better at living. I found the writing equally unappealing.

[Vicki (MyArmchairAdventures) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Dey St. Books for sending me a final copy of this beautiful book, Home Sweet Maison! This book explores the French art of making a home and dives into the different aspects of American homes vs. French homes. We’re currently remodeling so I soaked up all the tidbits to make your home a more meaningful space, decorated with intent. I have a French last name but can’t claim an ounce of French ancestry. Regardless, I truly appreciate their way of ensuring each room in the house has a specific purpose. For instance never eating dinner in front of the TV in the family room. Gah!! It ties nicely into my goals this year of slowing down and enjoying fully each meal, each conversation and each moment.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Probably closer to 3.5… but I just love crap like this

[Samantha Frazzini · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 stars - it’s always interesting to look outside of american culture and norms and the french have one thing down and that is quality of life. it was so interesting to learn about all of the small preferences that the french have built into their homes to create better connections with themselves, their family and so many others. I will definitely be implementing some of these ideas into my space to make it as cozy and inviting as possible

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll admit that I was skeptical at first. It struck me as something in the same vein as A Little Book of Hygge - which was cozy, but the only practical, actionable thoughts I came away with were buying candles, and expensive Danish furniture. But this was a charming and practical little book, one I am planning on buying and referencing.

It, of course, had poetic hyperbole that makes it so lovely. Do I believe a house feels that it is incomplete without a cave? Non. Do I want one? Oui.

I expected this book to be about how the French set up and decorate a room, but came to realize it was full of practical ways that the French live. I didn't expect a manual of how the French do laundry, but there it was (and no book has ever made me want to laundry before, but this one made its sound charming). I thought maybe it should be titled something that would help distinguish it as a book of French homemaking and realized, that it was right there in the subtitle.

Overall it was charming, inspiring and a quick read. Very apropos for the beginning of the year.

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I really did. Being a fellow Francophile and Francophone, I thought this book might teach me something new. It didn’t. The concepts she introduces are the most basic French home habits one can think of. There is also a bizarre naivety. She seemed utterly shocked by drawer organizers in the kitchen, multiple stain removers in the laundry and the use of a filing cabinet. Perhaps I grew up in a different kind of home. I think this book would be great for a teenage girl or boy who’s obsessed with France but hasn’t spent much time there or as a primer for the philistines we Americans are forced to deal with on a daily basis who lack that certain je ne sais quois.

[Ann Mah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with charm and precision, Home Sweet Maison is both a guide to creating unique and beautiful spaces, as well as an insightful and fascinating exploration of French culture. From practical tips to larger philosophical questions, Danielle Postel-Vinay shows us how to bring French warmth and elegance to our own homes – and, in turn, lead richer, more connected lives.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read, especially in describing the deeper societal meanings of how a home is created. It gave some broad generalizations without a lot of backup data, but the main points about what makes French culture distinct did ring true. Not every idea is practical or useful, but the deeper purposes of connecting with people and having your own private universe (Candide’s garden) were inspiring.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! Seriously, one of the gems of the French vs American genre. The author shows a great appreciation, though not an infatuation, for French culture, and includes good practical advice for incorporating potentially desirable elements into your own home.

[Kristi Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn't for everyone...but it was definitely for me. I actually listened on Audible...and have re-listened twice! I use this as more of a workbook for certain areas of my home. I definitely enjoy the French way of life and this was an excellent glimpse into French home life and schedules.

[Lorri Steinbacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful book to browse through on a Sunday.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found myself feeling quite inspired by this book to embrace my inner francophile when it comes to home decor choices and behavioural norms.
Danielle Postel-Vinay draws on her own experiences, having grown up in a typical American home in the mid-west, being introduced to the French way of life by a friend-mentor as a young adult, and ultimately having married a Frenchman. She lives in New York City, but has also lived in the south of France and has spent a great deal of time in the homes of her in-laws in France.
This is by no means an academic or deeply philosophical examination of the cultural variation in approaches to domesticity, in the vein of Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness. However, it is a thoughtful series of essays, arranged into chapters addressing particular rooms within a home (L'Entree, Le Salon, La Cuisine, La Chambre etc.) intertwined with supporting anecdotes and memories from Postel-Vinay's personal history.
I was somewhat surprised to find that, based on Postel-Vinay's observations, the Australian domestic way of life (my corner of it, anyway!) seems to be closer to the French than what she perceives the American to be.
Broader subjects she explores include the fundamental discongruence between modern "open-plan" styles of domestic architecture and the traditional French domestic arrangements. She relates that, in France, a room is associated with a particular function or purpose for the household and its inhabitants, and that multi-purpose spaces can undermine the capacity of that room to create a sense of family togetherness and joy. Thankfully, this is about as close as Postel-Vinay comes to Marie Kondō's concept of domesticity. I was relieved to find that my habit of surrounding myself with books, pictures and items of nostalgia, not to mention paperwork, is quite compatible with creating a French ambience. She refers on several occasions to the French people's employment of "Cartesian" organisation, such that everything has its proper place in the larger system to creates a better whole. This applies equally to placement of kitchen utensils as it does to the adherence to consistent ritualized domestic practices.
For those who aren't French speakers, Postel-Vinay provides a helpful glossary at the end of the volume, which includes many frequently used domestic words, but also several intriguing concepts (eg. the apero-dinatoire), of which I'd never previously heard.
A quick read, with many helpful and reasonably achievable suggestions for embracing a little of the French joie de vivre into one's everyday home life. I particularly appreciated the "Creating Your..." section at the end of each chapter, where Postel-Vinay distills the preceding chapter's contents into a few discrete elements.

[Katie Alleven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up this audio book, thinking it'd be interesting to listen to as I just moved into a new apartment with Tony and we now have a space to decorate in our own style, together. I've also never lived in a space where I've had full creativity to decorate as I want, so this is an exciting milestone in many ways. I'm a big fan of the French culture and had some nice takeaways and learnings from this book, particularly for creating a cozy, comfortable space, and enhancing the relationship with food. Since I personally lean toward a minimalist approach (but not intensely minimal - moreso, avoiding clutter), not everything in the book was for me. But that's ok! Every culture has its aspects that make it unique and desirable, and I think I prefer to combine many cultures into one for my living space (how very American of me).

[Hannah Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up Home Sweet Maison because I read a review that billed it as the "anti-minimalism" bible. I am personally not a fan of minimalistic decor. I want my home to feel warm, lived in and cherished. This book outlines how to do that with a French flair. It turns out, much of my instinctive decorating follows French traditions. While a few things were instructive (like the section on home offices, libraries, and personal archives) I mostly felt reassured that I am making solid home choices. A French home won't change your life, it will enrich it.

[Anne Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I had high hopes for this little book, but really didn’t glean much of interest from it. I picked up a few little things (in particular the impact of scent throughout the home) that I might want to incorporate, but a lot of the content could have been describing any home. And I also don’t think I could get on board with the French “menagerie” style. I like uncluttered and clean spaces. They bring me peace. I did like the idea of truly personalizing your home though with things unique to you that tell your personal story.
All in all, nothing earth shattering here.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love books that inspire me to think about my home and how to make it more welcoming and personal. The French way of making a home is more formal than I like to live. I'm not looking to find an expansive monogrammed linen napkin set, I'm trying to downsize my house inventory. However, decoration and home creating books are so fun and show that welcoming spaces for family rituals are the central purpose. I often don't like their decor style but still come away thinking of something I can do to simplify and make my home more cozy. HYGGE!

"[Americans] are generally hospitable and welcoming, but our homes can often hide our true selves, whether it be our family history, our political leanings, our religious beliefs, or our unrealized passions. We often mask what really defines us behind stock design elements."

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

[Catherine Palipatana · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Audiobook
*3.5 stars

For the Francophile interested in French customs surrounding the home. Similar to the Little Book of Hygge but French.

[Alessandra Braghelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm dispppintec about this book, but I found it superficial. I would have enjoined photos and more practical examples, but I found only few new informations I didn't know about a French home.

[Bella Garofalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my home owner era

[Colleen Jantzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming

[Sarah Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fascinating read and I love the fact that it was written by an American wife who married a French man because I feel like it makes it less drama and more of a beautiful insight on the French way of intentional home design/habits.

[Elise T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love cultural reads, and this book fit the bill. Now that we have lived in our own home for a little over 3 years, I am discovering my own style and priorities when it comes to homemaking. I came to the realization at the end of this book that I am more European than I thought when it comes to home design. I look forward to slowly incorporating some of the ideas into practice someday.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably went into this book with unreasonable expectations. I appreciated the author's explanation in the introduction that she didn't support either tearing down French culture just because it's French, or the kind of Francophile worship that happens in some circles, and her goal was just to present French culture as it is so Americans can glean some ideas from what the French do well. However, the point of this book was still really to hold up the French culture as an example, and that frequently irritated me.

I loved a couple of the sections, specifically the ones on the entry as an introduction to your home and the people who live there, and the library as a curated representation of yourself and your interests, and was intrigued by the explanation of the boudoir. Everything else I found either insipid (the suggestion to organize your kitchen drawers was hardly revolutionary) or genuinely offensive (the implication that you can't have an intentional, well lived life without a large traditional house with many rooms for specific purposes).

In most cases I really wanted a little more worldview analysis (which is, of course, where my expectations were unreasonable for a book not even written by a Christian), because I found in the comparison of French and American cultures that NEITHER lived up to my personal values and aspirations well.

I would only recommend this book for people who really love France and are intrigued by learning more about their day to day lifestyle, or for those who are doing deep research on homemaking and decorating styles. In either case, be prepared to wrestle with the information to apply your own discernment and worldview applications.

[Margaryta · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting light read that will probably be more eye-opening for North Americans than for Europeans or European emigrants. There were a lot of things in this book that I already knew, several of which were rather straight-forward and apparent, especially when it comes to laundry. One of the things I couldn't help coming back and paying attention to over the course of the book was the privileged and well-off position from which the author was writing the book. Certain things, like her statement than some French people considered a baguette to be stale 6 hours after it's been out of the oven, rubbed me the wrong way because of economic situation my family underwent historically. "Home Sweet Maison" is a light trinket of a book - nothing mind-blowing or so innovative that one cannot think of for themselves, with some time and concentration, although there are sections, like about the careful selection of objects to represent oneself, that I think some might find interesting and helpful. Otherwise, one might probably find it more beneficial to read some historical works for context, or look through design magazines/websites for actual ideas, as opposed to reading a very condensed and personal experience from the author, which often slips into a tedious narrative of experience.

[Sue S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel generous giving this three stars. From the beginning of the book the author's sweeping generalizations made me roll my eyes. Her cutlery drawer was a jumble, therefore every American cutlery drawer is a jumble. Her office is such a disaster it takes an hour to find an important paper, so no one in America is organized in keeping important papers. In America everyone eats in front of the TV, and not together as a family. Many other examples, which made me wonder if the generalities were applied to French life as well.
I never understood the purpose of making a list of every item in your kitchen. What is one to do with that list?
Parts of the book express insights into French living that I found charming. The writing was mediocre, and the book seriously needed photos to make it worthwhile. The layout was charming.